Dr. Sergio Pellis is an ethologist and professor at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. In addition to numerous papers, Pellis co-authored The Playful Brain: Venturing to the Limits of Neuroscience (2009) with his wife, Vivien Pellis. With reference to a range of species, but using the feisty rat as their model, the authors synthesize three decades of empirical research to create the first truly integrated study that appreciates the significance of such previously neglected phenomena as the multi-functionality of play, the different forms of play that exist between species, and the evolutionary aspects that are responsible for it all. Dr. Pellis' research focuses on the role peer-peer play has in the development of social competence. Using various species, ranging from laboratory rodents to primates, such as the great apes, Pellis has shown that the experiences derived from rough-and-tumble play of juvenile rats serve to modify the development of the neurons of the prefrontal cortex. The understanding of the organization, development, and neural control of play in rats has provided a model with which to examine how the experiences accrued during play fighting can lead to organizational changes in the brain, especially those areas involved in social behavior. Ongoing research in the Pellis laboratory will characterize the experiences that are instrumental in affecting these brain changes, the brain changes themselves and their functional involvement in executing effective social behavior, and why some species have evolved this function for play whereas others have not.
Sergio Pellis
Profile of Sergio Pellis